


To Break One's Spirit

by jakofafewtrades



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Emotional Hurt, Feels good feeling sad, Hopefully not canon, Kind of a lot of angst, Physical Abuse, Pre-P5 backstory, There is some... angst?, also kind of sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 01:59:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16924398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jakofafewtrades/pseuds/jakofafewtrades
Summary: Ryuji Sakamoto is in the hospital after having his leg broken by Suguru Kamoshida. After several days, the only person to ever visit him was his own mother, who he believes he is a burden to. Well, the predator always goes for its prey when they're at their weakest.





	To Break One's Spirit

**Author's Note:**

> For some reason unbeknownst to me, I have to be sad to actually get any writing done. I'm not actually a member of the Persona fandom, but I did play P5 and decided to write a little angst story to get me back into writing for my other fandoms because it looks like I've abandoned them.
> 
> Either way, I hope no one takes this story too seriously as I did make it kind of extreme in my opinion. I apologize up front if you do as all I have ever been able to write is sad or angsty fics, and that's what I was going for.

The IV dripped slowly into the saline bag, sending god-knows-what into him. Fluttering between dream and reality, Ryuji could sense how sluggish and heavy his body was. It made him feel… useless.

Maybe they were right.

Whatever strength that was left in his body, to even get up and act against the budding thought, was swindled away by that light sob. It was a mantra that ingrained itself in him, a constant reminder of how much of a burden he was. It mimicked the same thing he always told himself, how his mother’s life would have been so much better if he was just never born. And yet, when those fingers slipped between his, he selfishly indulged in it with a firm grip.

Maybe he was worthless...

 _Ma?_ The ache in his neck was only a small obstacle in the attempt to twist his head to ask if it was true. The words were senselessly choked out as he was overcome by another snivel.

There never was a need to ask.

The swallowing gasp stifled at how lifeless his mother’s once vibrant appearance was. The black hair laid lethargically flat against her, deadened by the contrast of the tear-stained nurse garb she adorned. Dark was the only color to her, bags lightened by the shiny gloss of dried tears.

No matter how much energy Ryuji put into squeezing his mother’s hand reassuringly, the crying wouldn’t stop. That was when it would start.

“It’s my fault this happened.”

No matter how hard he tried, his denial was the one thing his mother never listened to. He wanted to tell her that she was wrong, that she always did her best and that he was the one who messed it all up. Yet, strangled in his throat, the words never came.

And when it released, the silence was torn. No matter what he did, it was always too late.

“Nobuko-san…?”

It always ended with that voice in his dreams. Ryuji turned his chin down, the flash of white being the first thing he saw past his mother’s drained appearance. It couldn’t just contain itself to his memories anymore.

“Suguru-kun?” A startled spark of life leaped in his mother’s tone. “Why are you here?”

Kamoshida.

 _Get out!_ Every muscle in Ryuji’s body motioned for his lips to move, to scream out as the voice materialized fully. Useless, watching as the man got closer to the only one left in the world that cared for him. Suffocating in a sea of his own words, his silence was mocked by a single drop.

“Nobuko-san,” Kamoshida’s voice was filled with emotion and feeling, yet devoid of it all. The woman whose tears streaked clear lines down her face sucked in a gulp as the large hand met her back, rubbing comfortingly. “I know it must be hard, but you can’t blame yourself.”

Ryuji’s lips twitched in anger as he pulled his neck up, trying to release the choking muzzle. _Get away from her!_ She wasn’t a part of this. It wasn’t her fault, none of this was. It was all—

“Maybe if I wasn’t always working or if I took time off just to—” she stopped with a sniffle, the grip on her son’s hand faltered as she fruitlessly began to wipe away the tears. Kamoshida began to trace deeper circles around her back, sending another sorrowful gulp through her. “Suguru-kun, I’m a terrible mother…”

The anger Ryuji held vanished as that word struck. _Don’t say that ma,_ he tried to say, but only a stifle left his parted lips. She was always there for him, doing everything in her power to help him. Yet, no matter how many times he told her that she was the best mother, she never took it to heart.

“A terrible mother wouldn’t have done so much to help her son,” assured Kamoshida, smiling as he took Nobuko Sakamoto’s hand. She dully accepted it, trying her best to hold back the crying. “If anyone is at fault for what happened. I am.”

 _What?_ Ryuji’s eyes widened as the suspicious knot in his stomach formed. This time, something about this was… off.

“N-no, Kobayakawa said what happened was self-defense,” she sniffled again, blinking back tears. “I knew my Ryu got into fights before, but—"

“When I took over as the head of the track team, I should have taken the initiative to understand all of my students,” Kamoshida interjected, looking down guiltily. On cue, the Olympic volleyball champion’s back slouched, shoulder’s arching in as he slumped into the chair. “I overstepped my boundaries as a teacher, and what I said must have agitated him.”

It _was_ off.

Kamoshida always knew exactly what he was saying. Ryuji moved his mouth, straining his neck with a heaving sound as he pushed his head upwards and against the pillow. _Don’t listen to him!_

“Ryu?” The gagging sound from the bed caused his mother to quickly shoot from her seat, sending Kamoshida’s hand away. “What’s wrong? Does it still hurt? Should I call for Oyamada?”

“It looks like they haven’t been having him do any therapy exercises,” Kamoshida asserted, placing his hands on his knees as he pushed himself forward. He looked over Ryuji for a moment before turning to Nobuko, who was frantically searching for anything that could help. “Go find Dr. Oyamada. Unless they start soon, his body will spasm and lock up.”

 _Bullshit._ Gritting his teeth, Ryuji attempted to move again. Kamoshida did this, somehow. He looked to the IV, glaring daggers as he grunted, trying everything to free himself.

“N-no, I’m his mother,” stammered Nobuko, holding herself together only by the tight grip on her son’s hand. She looked up to the square face of the man trying to pull her away, “please, Suguru-kun. Let me.”

“You know this hospital better than I do. It would take me longer to find him,” Kamoshida admitted, gently pushing past Nobuko Sakamoto as she silently agreed. “Besides, I failed Sakamoto as a teacher once. I have to make up for it.”

 _Get off me!_ The writhing became worse as Kamoshida’s grip tightened around his arm once the soft touch of his mother left. Retching as he struggled, the words refused to form. _Ma get him off!_

“Suguru-kun,” Nobuko said worryingly, sniffling one last time, “I’m sorry. Ever since… I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

 _Ma._ The struggling stopped as Ryuji saw the tear fall. _Please, don’t…_

“I’ll be back in a minute, ‘kay Ryu?” she said softly. “Don't worry. I promise I'll be right back.”

_…Not with him._

The atmosphere dropped to the same desolate ambiance of his dreams as she left. Ryuji's heartbeat slowed as the situation fully materialized, the grip on his arm tightening. There was silence, save the dull drip of the IV.

And with a chuckle, the nightmare started like it had that day.

“So, that stuff Oyamada recommended really does work. Finally got you to shut up, didn't it?”

The slings on the saline bag jingled as Ryuji sunk deep into the bed, the springs milling into his back. There was no escaping this time, no gentle hug or hold to reassure him that nothing bad would get him.

“She really is as stupid as you are,” Kamoshida smirked, the façade finally dropped. “I would have expected anyone to have questioned why you’d even need one of these.”

Ryuji scrunched his eyes in a wince, forcing back the tears in a whimper. _Stop it!_ None of it was true. Kamoshida was saying it now as he did back then, trying to get a reaction out of him.

"Trash like you really need to learn their place, Sakamoto." The heavy grip left his arm, throwing it down against the bed. "God, even saying your name leaves a filthy taste in my mouth."

 _I ain't gonna rat_ Ryuji silently begged, holding back the tears as he squirmed in the bed. The moving caused the hanging cast to faintly swing, Kamoshida's smile growing. Ryuji turned wide-eyed, trying anything he could to motion his words. _Don’t do this shit!_

"Turns out a couple of your friends back on the track team were gonna come clean to the police after what happened." The calloused finger perused down the bed and to Ryuji's leg, twisting between the fabric ties of the cast as one popped off. "What a shame. If they only kept their mouths shut then maybe their 'hero' wouldn't have to set a better example."

 _You can't be—_ Ryuji frantically looked to the open hallway, the nurses continuing on as their eyes met his. The rebellious attitude closed its curtains. _Why aren't they…?_

“Surprised that no one cares for trash like you?” provoked Kamoshida, unhitching a strap. “Haven’t you realized that no one wants you?”

_That’s not true…_

“I would have thought your father would have beaten that into you,” he smirked, the cast shifting down as it exposed the swollen and bruised leg. “A worthless delinquent like you never does learn their place, now do they?”

 _I'm not..._ This wasn't how the world worked. The good guy never found themselves cornered, bottom lip quivering in fear as the villain's grasp tethered itself around then. It just...

The fingers wrapped themselves around the soft skin, prodding deeply between the displaced bone.

“Don’t worry," Kamoshida gave a wide and proud grin, "I’ll make you more obedient than any of the others."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. I hope you hated it as much as I did.  
> I have no idea where this was heading, so I didn't expect this to make sense as I'm not knowledgeable about P5 lore nor how anything in the real world works. I like the P5 characters, and I really need to work on getting "in sync" with characters (I guess?), so I might write something short again for practice with that if I like how this one went after finals.


End file.
